Wehr Nature Center
A Place for all Seasons
Wehr Nature Center The environmental
education facility for the Milwaukee County Parks
220 acre Nature Preserve in Whitnall Park
Opened in 1974
Whitnall Park
Milwaukee County Parks
Where is Wehr?
Award Winning Programs!
2004 Winner of the National Feinstone Award
for Excellence in Environmental Education
2009 Winner of the Ideal Award from Keep
Greater Milwaukee Beautiful
Charles B. WhitnallHis vision and philosophy shaped today’s park system
Alfred Boerner
Added geographic distribution and waterways to vision
Depression and Expansion
Camp Whitnall (636)
Origins of Wehr in Conservation Education
Dust Bowl brought need for conservation education
Wisconsin was first state in nation to require conservation be taught in public schools. (1934)
Prairie Restoration
1960’s
Wehr Nature Center established 1974
Wisconsin is again first•Environmental Education is required K-12
•Teachers are required to take one credit of EE
Expansion- Nature in the Parks
Created in 1981 as the outreach program of Wehr
Cooperative effort of the UW-
Extension service and the Milwaukee County Parks
Our traveling naturalists
Operate the Adventure Summer Day
Camps
…to foster environmental awareness, knowledge, and a conservation ethic in people of all ages…
Mission
Learners of all ages
Programs That Help To Foster A Sense of Wonder
Programs for Pre-K to
K-5 Students
Sensory based Discovery Hikes
Programs for 1st to 3rd Grade
Programs for 4th Grade and older students
Geology Programs for Grades 3rd and older
Astronomy Programs in the Starlab for pre-k to 8th grade
Maple Sugar Days
Halloween Haunts
Cider Sunday
Reptile Day
Earth Day
Our Audience is Everyone!
It functions as a “living laboratory” and an educational and public information center to promote the care of the earth.
Mission continued…
Wehr Ecosystems• Woodland• Wetland• Prairie• Oak Savanna• Lake
Service Learning Opportunities
Volunteers Get the Work Done
“NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE”
Parks are important to people of all ages.
For nature study, recreation, and solitude
Nature
helps children develop powers of observation and creativity and instills a sense of peace and being at one with the world (Crain 2001)
Natural environments
stimulate social interaction between children (Bixler, Floyd and Hammutt 2003)
Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are better able to concentrate after contact with nature (Taylor 2001)
Professional Development
College Credit Courses Offered Through UW-Milwaukee and UW- Whitewater
Courses focusing on teaching science with live animals
Workshops in Project Wild, Growing Up Wild, PLT, Project Wet, Flying Wild and Great Lakes in My World
Reaching underserved audiences
Forming new partnerships
Provide scholarships
New delivery methods to accommodate increased class sizes
Future Challenges
Getting everyone outside !!!!
Wehr Nature Center
A place for all seasons
Our Project!!!
“In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create, but what we refuse to destroy”
-John Sawhill
